Local & General

Chronicle (Levin), 23 January 1948, Page 4

Local & General

Sequel To Car Thefts Two Maoris believed to be associated with various thefts and car conversions in a variety of North Island centres • were arrested in Auckland yesterday afternoon. Anniversary Day Yesterday, January 22, was observed in the Wellington Pro-v-rnce as Anniversary Day, the 108th arpiiversary of the landing at Port Nicholson of the first colonial settlers. All' shops, offices and business houses- in Levin were closed, Anniversary Day being one of the most popular dates 'in the sportrng calendar. Man Found Deajl An elderly man residing at Upper Hutt was found dead about 9.30 p.m. on Wednesday. He was Mr. Ernest Carey Ballinger, aged about 70. The body was discovered outside the door of the bach in which he had been li-ving alone, behind a house in McLean Street. He had apparently been dead several days. The police stated .there were no suspicious circumstances. Miss Howard As Fireman About £300 worth of furniture was saved from a blazing house by the Minister of Health (Miss Mabel Howard), a friend, Mrs. K. Con'nelly, Miss Howard's secretary (Mr. E. J. Sutch) and her driver (Mr. F. Walker) en route to Stratford yesterday for Miss Howard to open the new nurses' home. None of the party seemed any the worse for the effort, but Miss Howard, Mr. Sutch and Mr. Walker smelled strongly of smoke. Going Up At the pre-war exchange rate, 16 Chinese dpllars' ...were . . worth one American dollar,' of about 6s ih New. Zealand currency. A fortnight ago a young White Russian, now living in Auckland received from his family in Shanghai an airmail letter on which the postage was about. the equivalent of 6s. It carried 63,000 dollars in stamps. On Tuesdav he received another airmail letter from Shanghai, but this time it carried 116,000 dollars in stamps. The postal fee has not been incr-ea'sed. Condition Of Wanganella Inspection of the interior of the damaged parts of the Wanganella since she was placed on the floating dock has revealed that the; ship is in better condition than was hoped. It was expected that, after her eight months at the Clyde Quay Wharf , considerahle quantities of silt would have lodged in the bottom of the ship, but far less was found than had beeh expected. Scraping of marine growth from the hull has occupied the time of workers since the ves-' sel went into dock. Work has- also been done onv cleaning up the damaged parts pf the, ship. , New Air Servic^- . A new air service, linking Auckland, Hamilton,' Rotorua, Palmerston North and Paraparaumu is expected to be in operation within four months. The service will be flown by Lockheed Electra 10seater machineS as Rotorua aerodrome is not suitable for larger type aircraft. The tentative timetable is foi; the Electra to* leave Mangere, Auckland, at 8.15 a.m., afriving at Hamilton at 9 a.m., Rotorua at 9.45, Palmerston North at 11.15 and Paraparaumu* at- 12.10 p.m. There will be about 10 minutes on the ground at each of the stop's en route. The plane will leave Paraparaumu on its return flight at 12.35 p.m., arriving at Palmerston North at 1.15, Rotorua at 2.50, Hamilton at 3.35 . and Auck- . land at 4.30, - *

New Indian Stamps In commemoration of her independence, India has issued three new stamps bearing the date August 15, 1947. One is to the value of II- annas for inland postage, another of 31 annas for . foreign postage • and,.1^iey;hlrd fon i$: anpas for ; foreign \ strik'ing visr bears a reproduction of the' new orange, white and green national flag of India on a blue and white backg'round. Of special interest is the air mail stamp as the first official air mail flight ever undertaken was on February 18, 1911, from Allahabad to Naini Junction, India. Fire At Table Flat Shortly before 7 o'clock on Wednesday morning^ the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. E. McKenzie. at Table Flat, was completely destroyed by fire. At the .time Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie were drafting sheep and were unaw'are of the plight of their house until they wer-e informed by Mr. Youl-e, a mail contractor, who, noticing the flames and "smoke, made an investigation and succeeded in getting a child, who was in the house to safety. There was no time available to get any of .the furniture out and the unfortunate. owners are heaVy losers. It is understood there were insurance covers, but the amounts are not known. The cause of the fire-is a mystery. * Court To Decide .Levy Issue Four Dunedin ' tramwaymen who have refused to pay a special levy of £1 per head approved by the Dunedin branch of the Tramways Union, have decided to contest the legality of the levy in the ■ Suprenie Court. This information was given by one of the men concerned who added that the matter had already heen placed in the hands of their solicitors. The decision is one which may have widespread effects throughout New Zealand as Jimilar ievies have been imposed by other branches of the union. The levy in Dunedin was describe'd * as being a contribution to the finances of the national -executive of the union in appreciation of its efforts in connection with the recent tramways award. ,